About Me

Mum likes reading, decorating, shopping with the girls, and Starbucks. She also feels funny writing in the 3rd person.
Papa (also known as Sparky) is currently looking at me with a blank stare having asked him to add something about himself to the blog.
(Now he wants to say something) The only thing he loves more in life than music and Coke is his wife and kids. (Awww...) :)
Little Lotte is a genius on the computer and makes me fall over laughing every day with her quick wit. She loves computers and animals.
Sweet Pea abandoned her family and moved to Phoenix for work and is now married as of 2/28/06. She is beautiful and smart and the most nurturing person I know. She gave me the greatest gift ever when she made me a grandmother. I am the proud Mum Mum to Andrew Christopher. There are no words to describe the joy of having a grandson!

Saturday, September 23, 2006

the post in which I make disjointed comments at the end because I am steaming (no veggie pun intended) mad!

Here is the really bad news about the evils of spinach...

GOD REFERENCES QUASED; 'VEGGIE TALES' CREATOR STEAMED

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber always had a moral message in their long-running "VeggieTales" series, a collection of animated home videos for children that encourage moral behavior based on Christian principles. But now that the vegetable stars have hit network television, they cannot speak as freely as they once did, and that has got the Parents Television Council steamed.

The conservative media-watchdog group issued a statement Wednesday blasting NBC, which airs "VeggieTales," for editing out some references to God from the children's animated show.

"What struck me and continues to strike me is the inanity of ripping the heart and soul out of a successful product and not thinking that there will be consequences to it," said L. Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council. "The series is successful because of its biblical world view, not in spite of it. That's the signature to `VeggieTales."'

More than 50 million copies of the series have been sold since 1993, according to Big Idea Inc., which produces the series.

Two weeks ago, NBC began airing 30-minute episodes of "VeggieTales" on Saturday mornings. The show was edited to comply with the network's broadcast standards, said NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks.

"Our goal is to reach as broad an audience as possible with these positive messages while being careful not to advocate any one religious point of view," she said.

"VeggieTales" creator Phil Vischer, who was responsible for readying episodes for network broadcast, said he didn't know until just weeks before the shows were to begin airing that non-historical references to God and the Bible would have to be removed.

'Remember kids, God made you special'

Had he known how much he would have to change the show -- including Bob and Larry's tagline, "Remember kids, God made you special and he loves you very much," that concludes each episode -- Vischer said he would not have signed on for the network deal.

"I would have declined partly because I knew a lot of fans would feel like it was a sellout or it was done for money," he said, adding that "there weren't enough shows that could work well without those (religious) references."

All programs set to air on NBC must meet the network's broadcast standards, said Alan Wurtzel, a broadcast standards executive. "VeggieTales" was treated the same as any other program, he said.

"There's a fine line of universally accepted religious values," he said. "We don't get too specific with any particular religious doctrine or any particular religious denomination."

Vischer said he understands the network's position.

"`VeggieTales is religious, NBC is not," he said. "I want to focus people more on `Isn't it cool that Bob and Larry are on television."'

Marks said the network is "committed to the positive messages and universal values" of the show and expects "VeggieTales" to continue airing.

But Bozell is not satisfied.

"If NBC is so concerned about that four-letter-word God, then they shouldn't have taken `VeggieTales'," he said. "This just documents the disconnect between Hollywood and the real world."

Ok - so I go to NBC and check their shows. I put into GOOGLE: "NBC LINEUP" and come up with this result to click:www.nbc.com/NBC_First_Look/

I am assaulted with a video that I cannot find the little x to close out. The camera pans over a nude body on a poster where the breasts are covered with the words "museumofsex". A girl is arguing with a man. The scene moves to an apartment, a man grabs her with a knife, and there are screams heard. I cannot watch this video (these things creep me out, give me nightmares, and goshdarnit, call me crazy but I don't find murder entertaining) so I cover it. I happen to be offended that violence is entertainment but I don't see NBC reaching out to me to see if I am offended by such stuff. I go back to the video to try and figure out how to get past it so I can merely look at the lineup for making my point here. I see two investigators discussing the dead women who is bloody and tied and bound. They are leaning over her, talking over her like she is a plate of chicken on their table at a restaurant. As I typed this sentence, I once again go back to the screen and see another "official person" talking to people while a video of porn plays in the background. But it's not really the background, it's clearly on the left side of the screen and the couple are partially nude, groping and making out and I cover the screen again.

I return to the webpage, trying to click onto the bar at the top labeled SHOWS so I can merely look at the lineup of shows to make a case about my disgust that you cannot dare say "God made you special!" because it won't appeal to a large audience and the NETWORK HAS STANDARDS IT MUST UPHOLD." (rolling eyes) Clicking on the SHOWS button merely brings the background up for a split second and then the video is refitting to fit into the middle of my screen. I still cannot find the button to CLOSE the video that I don't want to watch. Everytime I click on the button that is supposed to list the shows for NBC, the screen is repositioned and the show names disappear. I am now viewing the bloody, dead body of this young woman once again.

I actually just wanted to go look at the lineup to prove that standards are different for everyone. What one find offensive, another does not. Just as some find violence and watching other people have sex on their televisions is not offensive, some people do. Just as some people enjoy the positive message that the Veggie Tales bring, others may not.

To end this (because my little rant won't change the world) I just don't get how it's ok to call a woman a bitch or whore or "ho" on tv, to show graphic sexual encounters, and to display violence as entertainment meets the standards but saying "God made you special" is somehow too offensive.

I know people say "TURN OFF THE TV OR CHANGE THE CHANNEL IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT.

I say, EXACTLY! If you don't want to hear veggies talk about God, turn the channel or turn the tv off. WHY doesn't this double standard work both ways?

I am not a Bible thumper. I don't attend church. Those of you who know me know I am not advocating religion. I am merely pointing out that NBC should not say they are going to censor the word "God" because it's offensive to the mainstream and then not censor gratuitous sex, blatant violence, and obscene language.

Just let the veggies speak. You'd think they were a bad bunch of tainted spinach, the way NBC is treating them.

2 Comments:

I completely agree with you. I remember watching the clay-mation adventures of "Davey and Goliath" when I was a kid (I am REALLY dating myself) and they always had a religious theme that was probably much more overt than that in the veggie tales. In fact, it was presented by, and mentioned rather prominently, the Lutheran Church at the end of each episode. I did NOT run out and immediately become a Lutheran upon being exposed to the television show. I really don't believe that I was scarred for life, and I doubt that even the most strident gnostic, atheist, or believer in whatever they choose will manage to survive quite nicely by doing what I do when I encounter something that I find objectionable. *CLICK* I turn on ESPN. :D